Wow.. Bus faster than MRT

sbst275 SG

This morning yours truly tried a MRT ride from Bt Batok to somewhere in Jurong… During AM peak hr…

But this was the experience felt… Ought to have taken 174…

1) At Bt Batok, had to wait for the 5th train in order to get onboard. Total waiting time was 15 mins…

S174’s headways is 13 mins.

2) EWL journey from 8 mins became 19 mins… There’s a track fault at Boon Lay… But no one reported it officially… Rail engineers spotted at Boon Lay section…

1 simple journey can end up become 40 mins for just some 7 or 8km… on the MRT…

So what if MRT got right of way, no traffic light… still slower and unreliable than bus…

charlize SG

wsy1234 SG

LTA should introduce more express service or semi-express bus service. This is why at Toa Payoh and bishan service 59 to kakit bukit alway full of people in morning even with DD bus. service 59 is using PIE to Kakit bukit after toa payoh. if taking service 8 might be a bit slow still have to walk a distance.

can not trust the old MRT line anymore.

^tamago^ SG

Boon Lay section has track fault for at least a few weeks, just nice you saw Engineers there.

PJ_Quek SG

just go for whichever way is faster lah

SBS 6078 M SG

Someone still say SMRT more reliable than SBST. I think he need go brain operation.

SMB128B SG

This is very very true.

I frequently commute on the eastern section of the EWL. What I want to say is from Tanah Merah to Tampines, taking svc 31 is really no difference from taking the train. I have NEVER known of any other place with MRT frequency of 6 minutes. I guess probably becoz I stay HK for a period of time, so I get used to the freq there. But true, even Taipei doesn't have such horrid freq. And yes, most of the time 31 comes first before the MRT.

And when the MRT travels between Simei and Tanah Merah by right is should be very fast. Unfortunately it is slower than the cars there! If the problem is aging trains, then SMRT should do something about it. No way is any commuter gonna tolerate a 20 minute trip for just TWO STOPS.

I really admired the Japanese trains, particularly those in Tokyo. Let alone the JRs, even the METRO TRAINS can zoom at twice the speed of the 40km/h trains here. Twice the speed of CCL. They have super reliable timings, their trains are long and new (they have this 15-year train age policy) too. I understand the reason is because Tokyo is a hundred times bigger than Singapore, but still, Singapore should have faster commute so as to cater to more people faster too. No wonder JR East had wanted to set up an office here.

Anyways, still looking at the poor commuters on the trains between Khatib and YCK. As of last week the trains there was travelling 3 times slower than my 965 bus. Luckily, there is still 857 which can save everyone's day.

SBS 6078 M SG

This is very very true.

MRT freq with 6 mins? From Yew Tee all the way to Newton.

SBS2656X SG

A few days ago NSL had a speed restriction of 18km/h from AMK to Bishan due to a track fault. An additional 4 minutes of travel time.

To people travelling from Yio Chu Kang to Khatib, it's advisable to travel via bus services such as 851 as trains have a speed limit of around 40km/h along that stretch. I was on board the train that time and saw many buses speeding past trains.

^tamago^ SG

The only I know with longer-than-6-min headways is Kaohsiung. But their public commuting population cannot sustain so they encourage discretionary travel and their third line will use trams. Many proposed medium to heavy capacity train lines have been counter-proposed with BRT as it is seen as cheaper and faster to implent without causing as much inconvenience during construction, and is seen as environmental friendly also.

^tamago^ SG

And because of the promotion of discretionary travel on Kaohsiung MRT, the ridership on weekends is higher than weekdays.

SMB128B SG

MRT freq with 6 mins? From Yew Tee all the way to Newton.

Yes. 6 minutes.

SMB128B SG

Actually, the trains at the Lentor Ave sector isn't that slow before. The last time I travelled on that sector was a year ago, and the last time I saw it run at normal 80km/h speed was a few months ago. I didn't know when did it get so ridiculously slow. It was too much for a train to go so damn slow for such long distance!

Besides that sector, many other sectors had these slow trains too, such as Simei to Tampines, and in the west too. What is happening uh? Sleeper replacement?

BusAnalayzer SG

Morning and evening peak MRT frequency good 3 mins. Yes on CCL it is around 06 mins, but other lines is fine.

For long distance, MRT is faster if direct connection. If you have to switch MRT lines, and if you have a direct bus route connection, then bus can be faster.

For instance, from Boon Lay to Bukit Batok, sv 174 will take 20 mins while MRT will take (Walking time 03 mins + EWL 07 mins + Waiting time 03 mins + 03 mins + Walking time out of station 02 mins) = 18 mins. It is almost the same as bus, but bus is direct and more comfortable.

But somehow people prefer taking MRT, psychologically always feel MRT is way faster than bus, and then crowd into the MRT.

SMB128B SG

Morning and evening peak MRT frequency good 3 mins. Yes on CCL it is around 06 mins, but other lines is fine.

For long distance, MRT is faster if direct connection. If you have to switch MRT lines, and if you have a direct bus route connection, then bus can be faster.

But somehow people prefer taking MRT, psychologically always feel MRT is way faster than bus, and then crowd into the MRT.

Ok I second peak MRT IS 3 minutes. But is it constant? Unfortunately no. 4 days a week I travel the evening rush and more than half of the times I wait 5 minutes for a train and the next comes in less than a minute. So the second train ends up almost empty. Whereas places like HK have trains of 1-3 minutes for peak and the freq is constant. So there won't be any overcrowding of one train and emptiness for the next.

I have to agree that MRT is faster for some cases like travelling from east to west. Thing is I hope the trains can be faster. Because the time required to travel just does not justify with the distance. I mean, it should really take less than the present 90 minutes to travel from Joo Koon to Pasir Ris.

wsy1234 SG

SMRT top people still have this mind set of this company is belong to government so unless people give them pressure the improvement will be slow despite transport minister said all the things of improvement on transport.

one way is to have bus lanes full day and have at area where demand is high. Also allow express bus service like 850 E to operate full days.